Tata Steel completed the fiscal, 2004-05 on a thumping note as it surpassed all its previous bests and established new records across all fronts.
During this financial year, Tata Steel produced 4.11 million tonnes of saleable steel, an all time record. The figure is half a percent higher than that of last year, but is significant considering the fact that Company's largest blast furnace, the "G" Blast Furnace, was down for capacity enhancement for four months, from December '04.
The initiative to enrich the product mix of Tata Steel continues to provide excellent results. The supplies of hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanised sheet products to the automobile industry jumped up by 19% over that of last year. This sales performance was supported by the 1.2 million tonnes Cold Rolling Mill churning out a record volume of 1.44 million tonnes. The sale of branded products, Tata Shaktee (corrugated galvanized sheets), Tiscon (rebars) and Tata Steelium (cold rolled sheets) also witnessed significant increase of 10%, 13% and 25%, respectively.
The clean coal and iron ore production this year has reached 3.27 million tonnes and 10.47 million tonnes, respectively. Most of the other divisions / departments also attained their best ever annual production.
The Company recorded best annual production in all profit centers namely Ferro Alloys & Mineral Division (FAMD), Tubes Division, Rings and Agrico Division, Bearings Division, Tata Growth Shop and Wire Division. Amongst the profit centres, FAMD, in this financial year has produced 0.63 million tonnes of ferro-chrome, whereas the Bearings Division produced 25.047 Mn. bearings. This apart, the sale of Tubes SBU has reached 0.22 million tonnes during FY '05.
The Company significantly increased its presence in the markets by increasing its share in the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) category like auto direct, ancillaries and appliances. It appreciably gained market share in focus segments such as auto and construction. Tata Steel has also emerged as a preferred supplier to major companies in the auto and white goods segment.